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When I took this job, President Biden told me that my number one assignment was to revitalize and reimagine our alliances and partnerships. Over the past four years, that is exactly what we have done, and in the process better positioned us to meet the tests of our time and deliver for our people.
It is fitting that my last trip as Secretary included the Republic of Korea, Japan, and France. In a world that is more complex, more competitive, and more contested than at any time in recent memory, these relationships exemplify the strengths of our alliances – both those that are new and changing, and those that are enduring.
 Secretary Blinken has a working luncheon with Republic of Korea Foreign Minister Cho Tae-Yul on January 6, 2025 in Seoul, Republic of Korea. (Official State Department photo by Chuck Kennedy)
With Japan and the Republic of Korea, we have invested in a new trilateral relationship to protect our shared vision of an Indo-Pacific that’s free, open, and secure. We have launched a trilateral partnership with Japan and the Philippines and revitalized the Quad with India and Australia. Relationships that started out focusing on bilateral and regional issues are now genuinely global in scope.
Alliances are indispensable in facing the pressing global challenges of our time, and the indivisibility of global security is more apparent than ever. When Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, nations like Japan quickly recognized that this was not simply a regional conflict but a direct attack on principles that ensure peace and stability worldwide. With the Republic of Korea, we’ve enhanced our coordination and response to North Korean aggression, including recent missile launches. Today, there’s a greater premium than ever before in likeminded countries finding ways to work together to meet these challenges.
 Secretary Blinken meets with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, France, on January 8, 2025. (Official State Department photo by Chuck Kennedy)
In France, I revisited a partnership that has gone back many, many years and that continues to deliver results. Together, France and the United States produced a ceasefire in Lebanon that is holding and creating the possibility for a different and better future for the country. And global support for Ukraine – that France and the United States have helped bring about together – is one of the strongest examples I’ve ever seen of burden-sharing.
Even though we’re in political transition, the world doesn’t stop. It doesn’t wait for our transitions. There is much on our common agenda that we must continue working on. If the United States is not engaged – if we’re not leading – then someone else is, and probably not in a way that reflects our interests and our values.
What we’ve done over the last four years is we’ve re-engaged. In these and so many other ways, these partnerships produce results that will make a difference in the lives of our people. And I’m convinced that in the years to come, our countries will continue to work together and lead together on the world stage – not out of convenience, not out of charity, but because the challenges we face demand our engagement, demand our partnership, and demand our cooperation.
We’ll confront a changing world as we always have, guided by shared commitment to bring greater freedom, greater opportunity, greater security to the people that we’re entrusted to represent.
Sincerely,
 Secretary Antony J. Blinken
Note to Readers
This email – “From the Secretary's Desk” – features my remarks and speeches on important current events. It was adapted from remarks that I delivered during my recent trip to Europe and East Asia.
Find all my speeches, remarks, and other press statements on State.gov.
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